Please forward this notice on far and wide

LISA KING MEMORIAL:
An Open Call To Artists and Others

To honor the late Lisa King’s (see previous entries) strong presence and influence on the Boston and national spoken word scene a wide range of artists from around the country will perform on Sunday, May 28, 2006 (the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend) from 2-8PM at the Cantab in Cambridge, MA in tribute to Lisa. This show will be free: the Cantab is donating their space to give Lisa a proper send-off. The show will include artists who knew Lisa personally as well as those inspired by her work or just following the path for which she laid the groundwork. If you are an out queer who has ever performed at a poetry slam you are a part of Lisa King’s legacy. In the early nineties folks like Craig Hickman and Lisa King paved the way for the rest of us, by slamming and winning with work that was unequivocally and unapologetically queer. They made up a big part of the winning team at the National Poetry Slam in 1993, dismissing forever the idea that nags at even the most confident of us: that “mainstream” audiences (whoever they are) and judges aren’t really interested in what we have to say.

Lisa inspired countless queers to take their place onstage to perform their most honest, incisive work. So even if you didn’t know Lisa well I urge all queer performance poetry folks to try to be a part of this show. If you are not a performer, please consider contributing in the ways listed below. If you know someone who has been part of The Amazon Slam or other slams even if he or she lives far from Boston please forward this message to him or her. The organizers have arranged a limited number of places to stay for out-of-town folks who could otherwise not afford to be here. If you would like to perform at this memorial, please email the following info to eyesblinkingbackward@gmail.com by Sunday, April 23rd.


-What would you like to do?

-How long would you require (min AND max)?
-What are the other needs (tech, A/V, SPACE, etc.) for your
tribute/performance?

-How were you connected to Lisa?

Although the committee is not sure they can put everyone who responds in the program, please note that there will also be an open mike time for spontaneous tributes and reminscences from all the people who knew Lisa. If you want to share a memory of Lisa you do not to fill out the above info, just show up, sign up and say your piece.

If you'd like to contribute in other ways, we're also looking for:

-Volunteers for the day of event (greeters, people to help with load in, set up, break down, other jobs...)

-People to document the event (preferably with your own DV camera, we'll buy tapes.)

-Any audio/video/photos you may have of Lisa: We already have some archival material of Lisa performing which will be played during the show.
-experienced emcees who would like to help host

-People with recording and/or sound equipment they can loan to the event for the day. (We need a vocal PA for the space upstairs.)

-People with national press connections

Please respond to this call by emailing eyesblinkingbackward@gmail.com by April 23. Please share this call with people you know who were connected to Lisa and please also help us spread the word about the show! For updates and more info, visit www.truthserum.org/lisaking . We hope to see you there.
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If you are a performer affected by Lisa’s loss who knows you absolutely, positively cannot be at the memorial, you can still contribute. Please consider sending to eyesblinkingbackward@gmail.com (on or before Sunday, April 23) an attached MP3 of your work that can be played during the memorial. You do not have to have pre-recorded work. Most computers have the capability, with a little time and effort, to make decent MP3s without the purchase of additonal software or hardware. We would love for all those who were touched by Lisa to have a presence at this memorial one way or another.

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This notice was also posted on http://girlsnqueers.livejournal.com